The Animal Health and Care Section, DIR, NIDCD, is located in an NIH leased facility owned by Alexandria Real Estate Equities at 5 Research Court, Rockville, Maryland, and is approximately 12 miles north of the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This facility is considered an extension of the NIH and adheres to the same standards as government owned NIH facilities. [unreadable] [unreadable] The Animal Health Care Sections Vision Statement: AHCS will be the most customer oriented research support facility in NIH; providing a high level of excellence in animal care, husbandry and technical support that will enhance research investigations and the overall NIH mission.[unreadable] [unreadable] The AHCS facility is located entirely on the first floor of the 5RC building and comprises 15,776 sq ft2 including corridors. The facility is comprised of eleven animal holding rooms and support areas that include receiving, food storage, aseptic surgery, radiography/fluoroscopy, bedding storage, cage wash, clean cage storage, a laboratory for diagnosis of laboratory animal diseases, animal procedure areas, shower/lockers, break area, administrative space, and supply storage. The facility is managed as a specific pathogen free facility and at any one time can house NIDCD mice, rats, rabbits, chinchillas, and guinea pigs. [unreadable] [unreadable] The AHCS operates a $1.2 M contract with Charles Rivers Laboratories to provide animal husbandry, veterinary care, and a significant amount of research technical support for NIDCD principal investigators and their associates. James A. McGehee, DVM, MS, is a full time government employee and is the current NIDCD AHCS Director and contract Project Officer providing oversight. [unreadable] During FY 2008, the AHCS supported the following principal investigators: [unreadable] [unreadable] Dr. Stephan Brenowitz [unreadable] Dr. Matthew Kelley[unreadable] Dr. Richard Chadwick [unreadable] Dr. Thomas Friedman [unreadable] Dr. Konrad Noben-Trauth[unreadable] Dr. Andrew Griffith[unreadable] Dr. Susan Sullivan[unreadable] Dr. Xing-xing Gu [unreadable] Dr. Robert Wenthold[unreadable] Dr. Kuni Iwasa [unreadable] Dr. Doris Wu[unreadable] Dr. Bechara Kachar[unreadable] [unreadable] NIDCD FY 2008 Average Daily Cage Count Per Species: Mice 2,400 cages; [unreadable] Rats 1 cage; Rabbits 8 cages; Chinchillas 0 cages; and Guinea Pigs 4 cages